Forget Me Not
by NerdInAWord
Summary: After a terrible accident, Krory suffers from severe memory loss, forgetting everything he ever knew. As he goes through the obstacles of remembering his life, he discovers someone there that he would never have expected. KroryXMiranda.
1. Chapter 1

Headache.

Massive headache.

These were the first words that entered his mind as he woke, still showing no outward signs that he had done so.

He had a giant headache.

What could have given him such a headache? He tried to remember what had happened before he had lost consciousness, or fallen asleep, or whatever must have happened, but to no avail.

He couldn't remember anything.

From any part of his life.

Not his family, not his friends, not even his own name.

It was all blank.

He gradually became aware of someone dabbing a cool, damp cloth on his forehead. Moaning softly, he slowly opened his eyes. The silhouetted figure of a young lady directly in front of some kind of a light was the first thing that he beheld.

"Oh, you're awake!" She turned to face him so that she was no longer backlit and he saw her long, lean frame in its entirety for the first time, her wavy, jet-black hair cascading beautifully to her shoulders, several locks falling between her deep brown eyes. He felt his heart begin to race.

Noticing that she seemed a bit nervous, he reached toward her in what he meant to be a calming gesture. This made her jump, which in turn caused her hand to knock over a glass that sat upon a table beside the bed. Water spilled in a large puddle onto the floor. Now in what seemed to be a state of panic, the poor girl bent to clean the mess up.

_"Miranda Lotto!" _She flinched as a thin woman who seemed to be having a bad day walked over.

He cleared his throat. "I-it was my fault," he tried to explain to the bad-tempered person. "I…"

The woman gave him a look that stopped him cold. "Be sure it doesn't happen again," she warned sternly before leaving.

Miranda looked at the floor. "Th-thanks," she whispered, barely audibly.

His heart faltered, nearly missing a beat. "You're welcome," he replied, every bit as quietly as she had.

A silent moment passed in which she cleaned up the mess, then began to stand. "I-I'd better go," she told him with a smile. "I'm under strict orders from Lavi to tell him the moment you wake up."

He watched her receding form, then sat back in the bed with a sigh. Miranda Lotto… what a beautiful, exquisite name… so fitting, so absolutely perfect for her…

His thoughts were interrupted by a virtual stampede leading into the door of whatever room this was, straight toward his bed. "Krory?" One particular boy with surprisingly white hair and a mark over one eye pushed toward the bed. "How are you feeling?" Perhaps this was that Lavi person.

"Fine, I guess," he responded. This was drowned out by the crowd, however, ironically leaving him relatively free to himself.

_Krory_, he mused. _That must be my name... or maybe a nickname? _Unsure, he let this thought aside and listened to the conversation going on about him.

"Now _that's_ what I call lucky!" someone with a patch over one eye exclaimed. "A building falls on top of him, and all he gets is scratches!"

A building fell on top of someone? He greatly pitied the poor person that had been under it, even if the person in question wasn't very hurt… Before he could comment on this, however, a doctor - who was, oddly enough, wearing a strange, floppy hat - was shooing everyone out, claiming that he 'needed his rest.' This didn't make much sense to him. After all, he'd only been awake for a few moments. Did he really sleep that much? _Well, _he reasoned, _maybe I wasn't asleep for that long…_ Shrugging it off, Krory rolled over to get some more apparently well-needed rest.

Just as he was getting comfortable, however, the man wearing the hat returned with an enormous grin that he, not remembering a thing about this person, found rather creepy. It seemed that he didn't actually intend to let him get some rest.

_Oh, well._ He smiled. _Perhaps I'll find out more about that person that was under the building…_Krory closed his eyes.

* * *

He did not like the man with the hat.

After having said that he "needed his rest," the man had spent almost an hour talking about how grateful they all were that he was okay and had not actually been hurt by the building that had apparently fallen on him – not letting him get a word in edgewise to tell the man that he really couldn't remember anything – and about how, when he had gotten some rest, he should really get checked out to make sure that he was okay.

Krory sighed. On top of everything else, he wasn't really tired. Hat Man had seemed to stress that it was important that he get some rest – but he couldn't even go to sleep because he wasn't tired. _Well,_ he thought, _there's no use wasting time trying to sleep here when I'm not tired. _He sat up and swung his legs off of the bed, then pushed himself to a standing position.

Looking down, he saw that his clothing was quite interesting. He wore a regular outfit, consisting of a shirt and pants – beneath an enormous cloak. Odd as this outfit was, he found that he rather liked it, and besides, it seemed to suit him. He grinned, walking to the mirror to see what he looked like.

And gasped, staggering back in surprise.

Unlike the teeth of every single person he'd seen here, including the large multitude by his bedside and Hat Man, his teeth were large, pointed fangs that almost protruded from his mouth. On top of that, his ears were also unique among all of those he'd viewed. As opposed to what seemed to be at least in this building the normal, rounded ears of everyone else, his ears came to a sharp point, sticking out to the sides ridiculously. Something deep within him told him that this was not what a normal person looked like, even to the point that he might be the only one in the world with these differences.

He cringed, also viewing the white shock of hair that was hanging in front of one eye. Had he always been this different, this… deformed? His mouth still hanging open, he fell back onto the bed that Hat Man had been so kind as to let him use, here in what he guessed was some large sleeping place, judging by the actions of everyone here. One wary eye staying on the mirror, he frowned deeply, uncertain of what he should do now. Hat Man had left him alone to get some sleep; perhaps he should try to do that.

Once again, just as his eyes were closing, the door opened and someone walked in. "Kro-chan?" the person whispered. Cracking an eye open, Krory saw that it was the person with the eye patch. "Hello?"

_Hmm… he can't be talking to me,_ Krory decided. _I'm Krory._

"Kro-chan? Are you awake?" Eye Patch began walking toward… his bed? No, it must have been the bed _beside_ his. After all, if he were talking to him, he'd say 'Krory.'

_This person, Krochan, must be asleep,_ Krory decided. _Everyone around me is. Perhaps I should tell him that._ Krory sat up.

"I think he's asleep," he whispered helpfully.

"Uh… very funny, Krory," he smiled. This confused Krory considerably.

"I don't think you understand, sir," Krory frowned. "You were calling Krochan and heading this way. I figured that, since everyone's asleep over here but me, then he must be asleep, too."

"Krory?" Eye Patch now seemed more confused than Krory himself. "Are you all right?"

"I- I think so," he nodded. "It's just that… I'm terribly sorry, sir, but I'm afraid I don't know your name."

Eye Patch blinked, apparently taken by surprise. "Krory… it's… me. Lavi."

"Oh!" A grin burst onto his face. "_You're_ Lavi!"

"Y-yeah…" Lavi frowned deeply. "Krory… um… how much do you… ah… remember?"

Krory frowned. "Well, I remember you, and the crowd by my bed earlier, and Miranda, and that man with the hat… why?"

"Okay, how about _before_ you woke up?" Lavi almost didn't want to hear.

"Um… well… hmm." Krory thought as hard as he could. "I don't remember anything."

Lavi swallowed. "Nothing?"

"Nope." Krory shook his head.

"So…" Lavi hesitated. "Eliade… doesn't ring any bells?"

"No." Krory grinned in curiosity. "What's an eliade?"

"Oh, boy."


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry about taking so long to update. I've been really busy and haven't really had a chance to write much. Hope you enjoy and please review!**

"And who's this?"

Krory frowned, not quite remembering this name. "Uhh... A… ndrew?"

Komui flipped the card around. "No, Allen. Close, though. This?" He turned to the next card.

Krory smiled. This name he would never forget. "Miss Miranda Lotto…"

"Correct!" Komui flipped the card. "And this?"

"L-L-Lenalee!" Komui frowned, turned the card around, then a dangerous gleam entered his eye.

"That's _not_ Lenalee!" he growled. "That's K-"

"No!" Krory pointed at the door. "Lenalee!"

"Brother!" Komui turned around, startled.

"Yes, my dear sister?" He turned back to Krory with a smile. "You got that right, by the way."

"What are you doing?" Lenalee frowned.

"I thought that perhaps stimulation would prompt the return of his memories. I think it's working." Komui turned to the next card, forgetting that Krory hadn't attempted to identify that one yet. "Who's this?"

"Erm… L-Lavi?" Krory sounded very uncertain.

"How long have you been at this?" Lenalee folded her arms.

"Oh, no more than a few hours, I assure you," Komui smiled, turning the card around. Then his smile turned to a frown. "No, that's Jeryy."

"And we still haven't made it all the way through the deck!" For some reason that Krory didn't understand, this seemed to almost annoy Lenalee. However, though he had been the one that had made the comment, her feelings seemed to be directed at Komui.

Komui held up yet another card. Krory sighed. This game was starting to lose its appeal... "Who's this?"

"Ah... um... I... don't know?"

Komui turned the card so that he could see it. "It's Reever."

"Oh." Krory shifted on the bed, trying to get some feeling back into his legs that had fallen asleep long ago.

"And this?" The tall man suppressed a yawn; this game really wasn't fun anymore. He turned his eyes back to the card. "Miranda Lotto," he purred.

Komui straightened happily, taking a futile glance at his annoyed younger sister. "See? He's getting better!" He whipped another card out, "Who's _this_?"

Squinting, Krory frowned. The other names had been somewhat easy once he'd gotten used to them... but this was a face he hadn't seen before. "That's not fair," he pouted, "I've never seen him before." The tall man slumped. "I don't like this game. It's not fun."

A bead of sweat rolled down Komui's forehead as he finally realized the grim truth of the matter. "Uhhh..." He looked back at the card, then at Lenalee, who glowered over him. "It's Johnny Gill... Ow!"

Lenalee, still holding the clipboard she'd taken from her brother's desk, frowned, "His memory's going to return on its own. And even if it doesn't, there's no use drilling him like this."

Komui pulled his beret over the bright red swelling lump on his forehead. "Fine..." he sighed unhappily.

"You mean I can go?" He looked at Komui with the expression of a hopeful puppy. Komui sighed, putting down his cards and slumping, obviously dismayed that his technique for getting Krory to remember things wasn't working.

"I suppose," was all he had the chance to say before Krory was off the hospital bed and on his way out the door.

"Oh, I won't forget this! Thank you, uh," Krory struggled to remember the card that had had Hat Man's face on it, "…Komui."

Lenalee shook her head and sighed.

The second Krory got in the halls, he started looking around frantically, whirling almost in circles. Ever since he'd seen that Miranda Lotto, he'd wanted to talk to her, but he'd never actually gotten a chance. It didn't occur to him that he didn't even know what he'd wanted to say, but that would come later-

"Oof!" Suddenly, his face was on the floor. He looked up, startled, to see nobody. Looking back behind him, he saw the problem: with all his spinning around, he'd gotten his foot caught on the end of his long cloak. Straightening, he dusted himself off before resuming his search.

"Oh, Krory, you're up!"

The tall exorcist whipped around, careful not to fall this time, to see that one white-haired kid… what had his name been?

"I see that Komui has finally lightened up, huh?" The kid was grinning at him in a friendly manner; he must have known him well before. What _had_ his name been? "Well, Krory, I'm on my way to the cafeteria. Do you want to come along?"

Krory blinked, intrigued by the thought of this new place. Well, he decided, Miranda Lotto would have to wait, unfortunately. "Sure!" He paused a moment in thought. "Uh… Alvin?"

'Alvin' laughed a moment. "It's Allen, but close. What is it?"

"Do you know where Miss Miranda Lotto might be?" He would need to know after his trip to the cafeteria, wherever that was.

"Miranda?" Alvin-turned-Allen scratched the back of his head in thought. "I don't know, probably in her room. Why?"

"Just curious." He gave an innocent toothy grin.

A sudden very loud noise interrupted his thoughts; he jumped in surprise. "W-what was that?" He was hiding behind Allen, crouching so his tall frame would fit behind the smaller boy's. Allen just laughed. "It's your stomach, Krory. Let's get you some food," he smiled.

* * *

"Ooh! What are these?" Krory grinned, bent over to look at the items on the menu and pointing enthusiastically at a small dish of pastries. "They look delicious!"

Allen leaned over to look. "Those are cream puffs… but you might want to wait on those until dessert. Sugar on an empty stomach can make you sick, you know."

Krory wilted. "B-but…" His eyes scanned the rest of the menu, and he shook his head. "No, I'll be fine, I promise!"

"I don't think that's such a good-" But Krory was already gone, in front of Jeryy and nodding dramatically.

"Yes, I'd like twenty orders of cream puffs! Quickly, please!" Jeryy nodded and left to get his order.

Krory grinned, proud of himself for having ordered for the first time that he could remember, then walked back over to Allen, who sighed, shaking his head and smiling ever so slightly.

After what seemed like hours later, Krory was still slurping pastry sauce off of his de-gloved hands. Although both Allen and Krory had parasitic-type Innocences and consequently had huge appetites, there was a major contrast in the way they ate. While Allen scarfed down all of his food like it was the only food he'd be able to have in a week, Krory preferred to sample his somewhat carefully… after all, it was his first time remembering tasting it, so he might as well enjoy it, he thought.

So, long after the pastries had been ordered, they were finally finished; Krory sat back with content and sighed, closing his eyes. There was no better feeling, he decided, than a full stomach. Especially after being so hungry.

"Hey, Allen, what's up?" His sharp ears picked up the sound of that… that… he racked his brain trying to come up with a name for the voice, but no answers came. Cautiously, he peeked his eyes open. Yep, that had been the face he was picturing: A flop of red hair atop a green headband, and strewn across one eye was an eye patch. But… he couldn't remember this person's name. Oh well… Eye Patch Kid sat next to Allen; he closed his eyes again, almost comfortable enough to fall asleep.

"Um…" Another voice, this one female, woke him up. Again he peeked an eye open, and bolted upright. Standing before him was the one person who he'd been trying to think about since he got up!

"Miranda Lotto!" This exclamation came out sounding like a rather excited yelp, and he blushed slightly. Her cheeks mirrored his, turning a shade of pink at the sudden attention.

"Ahem… sorry… I… uh…." He scratched the back of his neck. "Hi, that is," he added.

"…Hi. Um, Komui wanted to check up on you…"

"Not Hat Man!" With that, the tall man leapt up, nearly knocking over the table, and tried to literally hide behind Miranda. "He s-s-scares me… I mean…."

Miranda, at a loss for words, blinked in surprise.

"Come on, Kro-chan, you're scaring the poor woman!" Eye Patch Kid laughed.

Krory stood straight reluctantly, looking over his shoulders for the evil 'Hat Man'. "Sorry," he chuckled. A smile appeared on Miranda's face.

"I understand," she laughed, "I know exactly what you mean..." The look in her eyes told way more than her mouth was; she was remembering countless Komlins or other of Komui's various horrors. Like her precious clock being massacred to make her anti-akuma weopon…

Krory didn't know that, though, of course. Having only awakened not too long ago, he didn't know how to read expressions at all, much less know what a Komlin was. That being said, he saw her expression as something else entirely… fear.

"N-n-no, don't be afraid! There's nothing to be afraid of…!" He trailed off, biting his lip unconsciously.

"Oh, it's no problem," she smiled. "I'm not afraid, just remembering…"

"...Oh…"

In the background, Lavi elbowed Allen, pointing at the two across the table and grinning. Allen saw him, looked at the two adults talking, and rolled his eyes at Lavi.

"Do I really have to go see him," Krory gulped, looking at the floor.

Miranda giggled. "Of course not! He just wanted to know how you were feeling." Krory breathed a giant sigh of relief.

"Oh. I feel fine," he said, and she nodded, turning to leave. She made it as far as about Kanda's table, which was halfway to the door, and then…

"Wooooaaaahh aaaaaaaaaahhhh!" Her foot skidded in something that had spilled on the floor, and Miranda went flying across the cafeteria. Krory's eyes widened, and he ran as fast as he could to catch her before she ended up hitting the floor.

Miranda saw the floor rushing up to greet her face, and she squeezed her eyes shut, preparing herself for the impact.

It never came.

Cautiously, she opened an eye. The floor was about two inches from her face, but she wasn't falling any further. It was then that she felt the hands around her waist and stomach slowly pulling her up. She turned around to see the black-and-white-haired Exorcist smiling back at her. A tiny red tint graced his cheeks.

"You were falling," he said obviously. "I caught you."

"T-t-thank you!" She blushed furiously, fully aware that his hands were around her waist. Never had she been in such close proximity with a male…

However, naïve Krory didn't even know the significance of what he was doing. He pulled her upward so they were standing. "You really should be more careful," he smiled.

"Uh, yeah, thank you," Miranda stuttered, then made her way awkwardly out the cafeteria double doors.

(**A/N: This isn't actually a memory, just something that had happened earlier**.)

_"Grandfather, what's a friend?" Eight-year-old Arystar fidgeted nervously with the red ball in his hands._

_The bearded man whipped around, not angrily, but with worry. "Where did you hear that word, Arystar?"_

_The little boy looked down, the white streak covering one eye. "I… I was in the garden, tending to your flowers when I saw a group of boys hiding among them. I saw that one had kicked a ball toward me, so I picked it up to give it back to them, but they all started screaming and ran away. One of them tripped and fell, but they didn't wait for him… I heard him yell… something like 'Some friends you are!' …But I don't know what that is… So what's a friend?"_

_Grandfather sighed, staring at the inside of his own white streak a moment before answering. "A friend is… a person who somebody talks to a lot. Usually they spend a lot of time with them. Useless."_

_Little Arystar blinked. "Why?"_

_"They usually don't do what they say. Humans are senseless creatures…" Grandfather took the watering can and began watering various plants._

_"But, Grandfather? Aren't we human?"_

_The old man's gaze fell sadly to the window. "Not according to them. But they don't matter. And neither do friends."_

_"Yes, Grandfather." Arystar nodded, staring at the ball._

_"The only thing that will truly bring you happiness is to live in this castle and take care of my wondrous plants with me."_

_"Yes, Grandfather."_

_Grandfather's eyes turned to Krory suspiciously. "You're positive you got rid of those brats in my garden?"_

_"Yes, Grandfather." Not on purpose._

_"Good."_

Krory stared at the doorway for a few minutes after that; though she was already gone, he stood there, still as a rock. A strange feeling tugged at his heart, as if a cloud of euphoria had made him giddy with glee and paralyzed at the same time…

"Hey, Krory," Lavi said, popping up behind him, "are you just gonna stand there all day or what?" The older man jumped suddenly, having been startled by Lavi's sudden presence.

"Oh, uh, um," Krory faltered. "Heh, I'm done eating… so I'm just going to, you know, find my… room…" And with that he was all but running out the door. He paused a moment just outside, looked both ways, then hurriedly chose the same path that Miranda had.

Allen, beside Lavi, frowned. "Does he even know where his room is?"

Lavi shrugged. "Nope. But I don't think that's what he's lookin' for, if you know what I mean." His eye gleamed and he laughed.

"Wait! Miranda!" With his long legs, it had taken him little time to catch up with Miranda at a running speed. She stopped and turned around, somewhat bewildered.

"Yes? What is it?"

"I, I, I, uh," Krory looked at the floor. "Don't know where my room is. Could you… maybe help me?"

Miranda had to keep a smile from pushing up the corners of her lips. "Well, I'm not very good at finding things…" With one glance at his crestfallen expression she added, panicked, "But I could try!"

An overjoyed grin pushed his mouth upward, and they went down the halls together, looking at various doors and trying to remember which was correct. "Perhaps it's this one?" They stopped at a door that looked exactly like the other ones.

Miranda knocked on it just to be certain. A deep voice from within the room growled, "What the hell do you want?"

Both pairs of eyes widened and Miranda stammered, "Uh, um, n-n-nothing, K-Kanda!"

Before he could say another word, they were both running as fast as they could down the halls of the Order, terrified for their lives. Krory's long legs carried him farther than Miranda's own clumsy ones, so when Krory started to notice that Miranda was lagging behind a little, he grabbed her hand without a second thought, so they could keep running.

They raced wordlessly like that, holding hands, for a long time; after a while, it wasn't out of fear but fun. Krory started to quietly chuckle, and that made Miranda giggle, which made Krory burst out laughing entirely. Miranda started laughing too, and because of that, she wasn't paying attention to where they were going and tripped over her feet. This sent them both sprawling on the floor.

"Did you see the way we ran?" Krory laughed, holding his head. Miranda, beside him, giggled, clutching her wrist she'd fallen on.

"Yeah… we're chickens!" A slight pause, then they both started laughing some more.

"He didn't even threaten us!" Krory gasped for air, then added with a smile, trying to calm down, "We thought his room was mine!"

Suddenly, he straightened up, still sitting on the floor. His eyes widened as he looked around. "Uh, Miranda? Do you know where we are?"

Miranda turned her gaze on all the unfamiliar doors. They didn't even look like people's rooms… "No…"

Their smiles faded as they looked into each other's eyes.

They were lost.


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, here's the next chapter! Unless something goes wrong, you should expect the next one within a week.**

"This is all my fault!" Miranda cried, tears running down her face. "If I hadn't come along, you wouldn't have gotten lost-"

"No, it's not!" Krory didn't understand why she insisted upon blaming herself, but he was still trying desperately to stop her crying. "I would have knocked on his door, if I were by myself. And I would have run, as well. You… you didn't do anything."

"No," Miranda insisted. "It is my fault. It's always my fault. I'm so sorry!"

"Please," Krory begged, on the verge of tears himself, "don't cry! It really isn't your fault! I-it was an accident. It would have happened anyway."

Miranda dried her tears on her sleeve. "Y-you really think so?"

Krory nodded, grateful that she wasn't crying any more. "It was nobody's fault. An accident. Actually," he realized, "if anything, it was my fault. It was _my_ room we were trying to find."

Miranda nodded, surprised by the realization that he was right and that there was absolutely no way that she could turn it around to make it her fault.

"Perhaps we should keep searching," Krory suggested. "After all, we may find something that one of us recognizes, or perhaps someone to help us." He looked around hopefully, but the unfamiliar corridor was empty.

"Or…" Krory frowned, trying to find something positive to do. "…maybe if we wander around, we'll find our way. I mean, we can't get any more lost, can we?"

"No… I suppose you're right," Miranda smiled. With that, they headed down the hallway.

* * *

"Or… maybe we can…" Krory revised.

They were staring down a new hallway that contained but one solitary door. That lone door looked more like some sort of laboratory or perhaps office than someone's bedroom.

Krory was beginning to lose hope when someone appeared up ahead from around the corner, someone who seemed fairly occupied with some papers.

"Um… excuse me, sir?" Krory approached the person timidly. The person jumped, looking up to reveal large glasses.

"Yes?" The person looked up, a look of polite confusion on his face. "What are you doing in here?"

"Well…" Krory took a deep breath. "Miranda and I were looking for my room, and we got lost. Could you help us?"

"You really _are_ lost," the boy smiled. "This is the science department. You go to the end of the hall and take a left. Then you go right, left, right, and you'll find a set of stairs. Go up, then right, and when you turn…" He trailed off as he saw their looks of horror, a smile spreading on his face. "I'll just show you."

"Thank you!" Krory beamed. "Thank you very much… ah… James?"

He laughed. "Johnny, actually," he grinned, "but you were close." By this time, they had all been informed of Krory's situation, so this came as no surprise. He began to lead them to Krory's room.

"Oh. Johnny." Krory smiled as well, reassured by Johnny's laughter. "I did that earlier with Al… bert's name."

"I think you mean Allen," Johnny corrected again. "Hey, I'm sure Allen understood." Johnny laughed. "Just don't ever call him Baka Moyashi, like Kanda does."

Krory frowned. "Um… who's Kanda?"

"You know," Johnny prodded, "the long-haired man with the sword?" Krory frowned, not remembering. "He was probably the person in the corner of the cafeteria eating soba." Krory's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink.

"You mean… that's a _man_?"

* * *

"And here you are," Johnny smiled, stopping at a door on the top floor of the building. "Krory's room. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do."

"Thank you so much," Krory called once more after the receding figure. Then he turned to Miranda.

"Shall we go in?" he asked. She nodded, smiling, and he opened the door. His eyes went immediately to the top of the dresser.

"Oh!" He grinned happily, striding over to look at the various trinkets, worthless gadgets, and other such things that he had collected from various towns around the world. "Feel free to look around!"

Despite his invitation, Miranda simply sat on the bed, thinking deeply about something.

_"Mama, what's a friend?" Six-year-old Miranda looked up innocently. _

_"Well," her mother started, pausing to think for a moment, "a friend is someone that cares for you and that you care about, someone that is there when you're lonely, that cheers you up when you're feeling sad."_

_"When will I get a friend?" Tears began to form while she asked._

_"Cheer up, Miranda," her mother calmed, picking her up and setting her on her lap. "Friends will come with time. Everyone has their own way of making friends. The best thing to do is be as nice as you can."_

_"But… but I do that already, and-and they still laugh at me." The tears began to spill over._

_"Have patience, my sweet one. Friends will come."_

"I've never had a friend before," Miranda almost whispered.

Krory looked up, an expression of surprise on his face. "Oh." A grin appeared. "I'll be your friend!"

"You will?" Tears of joy threatened to spill over.

"Of course!" Krory smiled, then his smile turned to a look of horror. "N-n-no, please don't cry!"

This made Miranda laugh mid-tear, which made it look to Krory as though she were crying harder. "W-what's wrong?" he panicked.

"Nothing, nothing at all!" Miranda wiped her cheeks with her sleeve. "I'm fine."

Krory frowned, not quite understanding, but decided to leave the topic alone. He picked up a porcelain cup that he had, at some time, purchased and turned it over. "Happy Birthday, China," he read on the sticker on bottom. "Huh."

"What?" Miranda asked, now curious.

"Why would they want to wish a happy birthday to an entire country?" He gently put the cup back before some moment of extreme klutziness could break it.

"Well," Miranda suggested, "maybe they're just honoring their country. The same way America has the Fourth of July to celebrate the day that they gained independence, and that almost every other country celebrates the day that they were founded." Miranda smiled. "It's like when you celebrate your birthday." That thought made her smile vanish. "Even if nobody else does…" she whispered in a tone that Krory barely understood. "Even if it's overshadowed by…" She shook the thought off and fell silent.

Krory felt that there was something more than what she was saying, but it was obvious that she didn't want to talk about it. _Well, I'll try to cheer her up,_ he thought as he picked up another trinket from the collection on his dresser. This was a mask; the bright colors clashed horribly with each other, and the expression on its face was a mixture of horror and disgust. It was some sort of cat, he guessed, but he wasn't sure with the fangs that stuck four inches out of its mouth.

"Well," he said uncomfortably, trying to find something cheery about it, "this is… interesting…"

Miranda held back a giggle as he handed it to her. "It looks like a cat-wolf crossbreed," she commented. He laughed, and a more comfortable air filled the room.

"Wow!" Krory's gloved hand fell upon a rose, one that had obviously been taken care of very well. He picked it up carefully with his index finger and thumb. "How pretty! I didn't know that I collected flowers," he commented, smelling it. "What's it called?"

"A rose," Miranda answered, wondering why on earth, among all of his sometimes creepy and sometimes funny collection, he would have this one, lonely item that seemed so out of place.

His attention flickered again to another item. "Ooh! What's this?"

The time passed, several fleeting hours of looking through his belongings, finding interesting trinkets and average nothings alike.

* * *

Meanwhile, in another portion of the Order, Lavi was busily, well… trying to look busy so that Bookman wouldn't give him any more work when his golem crackled to life.

"Lavi," Komui's voice projected from it, "I want to see you in my office."

"Yes, sir." Lavi stood, grateful for the excuse to avoid work. If he was lucky, maybe Komui would keep him there for a while…

In the hall, he joined Miranda, Allen, and Krory, also on their way to the Supervisor's office. "What do you think he wants?" Allen wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Lavi admitted, thinking. "I don't think he's sending us on a mission, though. Even he wouldn't send Krory this soon after being in the hospital." Allen nodded in agreement.

Before they could say any more, they were stepping into his office.

"Ah. Have a seat." He indicated the four chairs in the room that were miraculously free of papers and coffee stains. They did as they were told.

"There have been reports of akuma near the town of Romania," Komui explained. "I'm sending you four to investigate." There was an ever so rare serious tone to the supervisor's voice.

"What?" Lavi stood in disbelief.

Krory sat up. "What's an akuma?" he interrupted.

His eyes widened as the entire background of the akuma, Earl, innocence, and Noah was explained to him by Allen and Lavi. "Oh."

"You leave in a few days," Komui continued, handing each of them an envelope. "Here is the information you will need. You're dismissed."

However, as they stood to leave, Komui called after them, "You three, please remain," meaning everyone but Krory.

Lavi stormed back in. As soon as the door was closed, he demanded, "Are you _nuts?_ He just got out of the hospital! You can't send him on a mission!"

Komui sighed. "Unfortunately, I can, and I have. I wanted you to know that I have no choice."

"That's right; he doesn't," a new voice boomed. Lavi jumped.

"Rouvelier?" The man stepped from the shadows.

"We need every exorcist we can get," Rouvelier growled. "Your tests have shown that he is in top physical condition, so we can't afford to let him sit around and grow weak."

"But…" Lavi frowned. "Why Romania? He has a past there!"

"And that is precisely why we must send him there!" Rouvelier paced like a caged tiger. "Because he has a past there, it may stimulate the return of his memories!"

"But it could hurt him!" Lavi fumed. "You don't know what he went through!"

"I know precisely what happened," Rouvelier growled in a dangerous voice. "We can't afford to babysit the exorcists."

"You don't care what happens to him, so long as his memories return so he can be _useful!"_ Lavi realized.

"We cannot afford to _care_ in a war," Rouvelier snarled. "And as Junior Bookman, you of all people should be _well_ aware of that!" He stormed from the room.

Komui looked sympathetically at them. "I did my best," he offered. "He was going to hire someone to look like Eliade…


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this took so much longer than expected. Writer's block is a horrible thing!**

**Anyway, I will really try to get it up by next Sunday this time, but no promises!**

**Please review!  
**

"So… you're saying that Rouvelier wants us to somehow make him remember all this stuff, all of a sudden, so he'll be able to fight again?" Lavi's voice dripped with skepticism. Beside him, Miranda and Allen also sat, still trapped like mice in the cage of Komui's office. "That doesn't make any sense! Why can't he fight on his own like he is now, anyway? He's in great physical condition!"

"Besides," Allen added, "how are we supposed to make him remember?" Lavi nodded his agreement with the question. Miranda stared wordlessly at the floor.

Komui took a sip of coffee. "I'm afraid I have no choice," he repeated. Turning to Miranda, he stated, "You are going to find the Innocence. It is located in the small town near Krory's castle. And you, Allen and Lavi… are to replicate the fight you had when you first met him." He pushed the glasses up on the bridge of his nose, an old nervous habit.

"_WHAT?"_ Lavi gripped the sides of his chair, rising from it to almost a standing position. "This is _insane!_ We can't fight him again!"

"Besides," Allen protested, "he destroyed the castle. We can't fight him if the castle's gone!" Not that he'd want to anyway, of course; he was just desperately hunting for a way out of this horrible mess.

"Unfortunately, Rouvelier was able to hire a team of people to rebuild the castle," Komui mumbled quietly.

"I don't believe this," Lavi frowned angrily. "I can't believe that you're _actually_ doing this! Hey, isn't this coming out of the Order's paycheck?"

Komui blinked. "Yes, the Order has had to pay for the castle… and I can't do anything about it. I tried, but Rouvelier's too insistent."

Allen sighed. "No wonder the food's been getting worse," he grumbled.

"I know." Komui straightened his glasses again. "I'm sorry." He took another sip of coffee. "I'm afraid Rouvelier thinks this is necessary, though."

With little more to say, the trio left Komui's office, silently contemplating the days to come.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a different part of the Order, Krory was in an entirely different frame of mind. Silently, concentrating as hard as he could, he contemplated different varieties of creampuffs. Finally, he spoke.

"Sprinkles," he decided firmly. "I like the ones with chocolate sprinkles the best."

"All right," Jerry grinned cutely. "How many of them do you want, Mr. Krory?"

The question seemed to throw the exorcist off guard. "Uh…"

Before he could decide, Miranda stumbled over. Meaning, of course, that she was carefully balancing several trays that people were too lazy to put away themselves, trying desperately not to fall over. Krory caught her before her face hit the ground in front of him. Suddenly, all thoughts of creampuffs vanished from his mind. "Are you all right?" he asked the exorcist in his arms.

She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears that she was trying desperately to keep from spilling over.

"M-Miranda!" Krory panicked. "What's wrong?" She tore away from his arms, burying her face in her hands. His eyes widened in new horror. "What did I do?"

She shook her head emphatically. "I-I…" she sniffed. "I'm so sorry… I couldn't make them stop…"

The tall man blinked in confusion. Make who stop what? This didn't make any sense!

_Maybe it's a woman thing… _Krory thought, confused.

But… even if it was, he couldn't bear the thought of his best friend weeping in front of him like this! _I have to help her,_ he decided firmly. _But… how?_

"Miranda, don't cry!" This didn't help at all. Krory's heart melted into his toes as he saw this. "Please?"

Miranda had, by now, completely lost it. She had just made a friend, someone that needed her help (hopefully), and they were going to take him away and make him remember his previous, obviously terrible life. Didn't they realize how horribly sad that he had been before?

Didn't they realize that he was much happier like this?

She had noticed before, when he wasn't on the battlefield – always moping around, a frown perpetually etched onto his face. Now, he was different… she couldn't remember seeing him even begin to look the slightest bit unhappy since the accident.

And now they were going to ruin it.

This thought made her sink even lower into the pits of despair, and a fresh volley of tears streamed down her face. Her shoulders shook. She didn't even try to calm herself.

Several finders and exorcists, eating at their respective tables, stopped, looking a moment to see what was going on. Once they saw that it was only Miranda, being her usual self, they turned back to their food, conversation returning.

"Please, Miranda," Krory pleaded gently, "don't cry…" She was forever sad, he noticed. Every time anything, even the smallest little thing, went wrong, she blamed herself for it; she was always ready with the words 'I'm sorry' for whatever problem anyone was having.

_Then it's my job to cheer her up,_ he determined. Then he took another look at the weeping form in front of him. _And I'm failing miserably._

"Um…" Krory racked his brain for something, anything that might help her to cheer up, only to draw a large blank. "Surely it can't be _that_ bad," he offered helplessly.

Miranda looked up at him, her dark eyes streaked with tears. "But it is," she sniffed. "You see-"

"_MIRANDA LOTTO!"_ The sound of Rouvelier's voice could easily be heard throughout the entire cafeteria, if not the whole building. "Come here!"

Wide-eyed and startled into silence, the poor woman ran as fast as she could, somehow managing not to trip, to shakily stand in front of the Inspector, who was at a table, calmly sipping tea. His pointed eyebrows arched downward. "Do not talk to that man until his memory has returned."

Miranda's eyes widened even further. "W-why not?"

"Because," Rouvelier started, "it will impair the return of his memory to have _anyone_ associate with him. If that happens, then he won't be the Exorcist he once was. We need all the Exorcists we can get at this crucial point in the war." His mustache moved as he spoke. "If we lose an Exorcist now, we'll have little to no chance of winning." He leaned forward, one hand still resting on the cup's delicate handle. "Furthermore," he growled, quietly enough so that only she could hear, "the fault of losing the war will fall entirely to _you._"

Miranda's eyes were wide as saucers, her breath catching in her throat. She stood there, motionless, for a moment, the thought reeling in her mind.

Her fault.

If they lost the war, it was all her fault.

She burst out of the room and raced to her own, her heart tearing to shreds. She would never be able to talk to her friend again, or she would make the Order lose the war.

Krory watched in confusion as she shot out of the cafeteria, saddened to see Miranda so miserable…

"Uh, Mr. Krory," Jerry's voice broke the taller Exorcist's depressed trance. "How many of those creampuffs did you want?"

Never taking his eyes off of the cafeteria exit, he slowly shook his head. "None, thank you," he nearly whispered before walking out of the cafeteria. He wasn't going to find the depressed woman, however – he had another mission in mind.

* * *

"Allen," Krory questioned the young Exorcist in the training room, "how do you cheer someone up?"

Allen scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, I'm not sure. It depends on who they are and why they're sad."

"Suppose it was… a girl, and you're not sure why she's sad?" Krory tried hard not to give too much away – he didn't want to put Miranda's personal problems on display.

"Hmm." Allen pondered the question a moment. "A girl and you don't know why she's sad."

"That's right!" Krory nodded enthusiastically.

"That's the toughest kind to help," Allen frowned, "because if you do the wrong thing while trying to help, you may just end up harming her."

Krory frowned, confused.

"So," the white-haired Exorcist continued, "you've got to find something simple that will cheer her up that has nothing to do with why she's upset."

"Like what?" Krory leaned forward, not wanting to miss a thing.

"Hurry up, Moyashi! I don't have all day!" Kanda's voice could be heard throughout the training room as he impatiently waited for Allen to resume training.

"It's Allen! And I'll be just a second." He turned back to Krory.

"Why you insist on babysitting the other Exorcists I'll never understand," Kanda grumbled.

"I guess…" Krory scratched his head. "Something small that has nothing to do with her problem…" He started sorting through all of the small things he knew: acorns, pencils, Rouvelier's moustache... _Well,_ he decided, _I have a lot of small items in my room…_ He could give her that wolf/cat mask thing, but somehow it didn't seem… right. He had plenty of pictures, but none of him and Miranda, a fact that saddened him…

Suddenly, his mind flickered to the lonesome flower on his dresser. _I know!_ he thought excitedly. _I'll give her __a _bunch_ of those!_ What had she called it…? Ah, yes! A rose! He would get her a bunch of roses!

"Thank you, Allen!" He hugged the boy quickly before turning to leave, his large cloak billowing out behind him as he ran, leaving a puzzled Allen behind.

"You're… welcome… I guess…" he shrugged to thin air; then he turned back to Kanda and resumed training.

* * *

A rose… a rose… where would one find a rose? A rose was a plant, so naturally it would be outside. Krory stood in front of the Order, looking at various plants. Sadly, none were roses, and most were grass or various weeds. He frowned, disappointed. Grass and weeds weren't nearly as pretty as roses.

His eyes flickered to the lake below, specifically to the vegetation surrounding it. "Surely," he hoped aloud, "there are roses down there!" He started the long climb down the tall cliff that the Order was situated atop, ignorantly going down the hard way.

An hour later, a breathless and sweaty Krory flopped to the ground below the cliff, exhausted beyond belief.

After allowing himself a small rest, he stood. "To the lake!" He held up a triumphant fist, his eyes squeezed shut in triumph. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, and he lowered his hand, opening his eyes.

He no longer had any idea where the lake was.

From the top of the cliff, one could easily see the sparkling blue waters and beyond. However, once he was down here, all he could see were trees. Everywhere. A small road cleared a path in the forest, leading to some place that looked highly populated.

Wearily, he slumped. All that work for nothing. "No, Krory!" he reprimanded himself sharply. "Don't give up! You need to cheer up Miranda!" Fresh confidence instilled in him, he started down the road.

* * *

"Hey, has anyone seen Krory?" Allen asked a while later, sitting in the cafeteria at a table with Lavi, Kanda, and a group of finders. The latter mutely shook their heads and shrugged, while Kanda emitted a harsh, "Tch."

"I don't think we need to be with him 24/7, Allen," Lavi commented around his steak. Swallowing, he finished, "Why?"

"I'm just paranoid, I guess…" Allen shrugged. "Earlier, he asked me how to cheer someone up. When I guess he figured out how, he ran off and I haven't seen him since. I just don't think it's a good idea for him to be off wandering the Order alone." He took a giant bite of spaghetti, noodles drooping from his mouth that he quickly slurped up.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Lavi agreed. "He _is_ like a little kid, isn't he, Yuu?"

Glaring, Kanda stood up with his tray. "Do. Not. Call. Me. That. Again. Baka. Usagi." With that, he stormed out of the room. Allen and Lavi looked at each other, shrugging.

* * *

The road led to a small town, and Krory was now wandering the streets in search of someone that he could ask directions to that lake. He stopped beside a small woman. "Excuse me, Miss?"

She turned around to face him. With one look at his fangs, she stammered, "I-I'm sorry, I c-can't talk right now!" She hurried away as fast as possible without breaking into a dead run.

"…oh." That was the third person he'd asked. The other two times he'd tried, he had received a "Leave me alone!" from an old man and a "Why would you want to go there, ya crazy loon?" accompanied with a strong and harsh lecture about all of the kinds of bugs, mosquitoes, and harmful insects there, not to mention the beasts that would eat you as soon as look at you, so what kind of a moron would you have to be to go there, and I wouldn't take my kids camping there if you paid me, so just go on away and put any crazy thought like that away now.

In other words, no help at all.

He was about to give up and go back to the Order to find something else when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Startled, he whipped around to find a tall, bearded man holding a cane.

"You! You, sir, are just the man who would absolutely love a mint-gold-covered cane!" The salesman thrust it at him. A wolf's head bared its sharp teeth at him atop the tall wooden cylinder that tapered down to a rubber-tipped bottom.

"I… would?" Krory wasn't sure what to make of the man _or_ his cane.

"Yes, you definitely would!" The man grinned. "Here, have a look!" He dumped it into Krory's arms, proclaiming, "Just feel that smooth gold! And the details – so realistic, so lifelike! You'll be the talk of the town when they see you with this beauty!"

"…I will?" Confused, Krory examined it.

"Ab-so-lute-ly!" He stretched the word out into its individual syllables. "With this_ mint, top-quality_ cane, you'll be stately! Handsome! You could be… mayor material!" He beamed at Krory. "Why, with this one, you could be _governor_ material!"

"…I could?" Krory didn't even know what the _word_ meant, let alone the importance of the title. Lost on him also was the fact that he was Baron, a pretty important title in and of itself.

"Preeeeecisely!" The man's smile never wavered. "And for only a hundred dollars, this beauty could very well belong to you!"

"No, thanks," a sudden female voice behind him said. Krory jumped, startled, as feminine hands started to guide him away, pulling his arm. Awkwardly, he started trying to give the cane back.

"Hey, lady," the salesman complained, frowning for the first time, "let the man make his own decision!"

"Um…" Krory frowned. "I… uh… would be-!" He was cut off as the hands continued yanking him backward. The man snatched the cane back before Krory accidentally kept it, and Krory frowned, trying to place the voice of his captor.

"…and really," she was saying, "the nerve of some people. I can't believe they try to trick complete strangers into buying their overpriced goods. It had to be made of plastic!"

"Lenalee?" Krory couldn't hide his surprise. "What are you doing here? And out of uniform, too!"

"I was just down here to buy something for Komui," she explained. "I'm not on a mission. So, why are _you_ down here?"

"I was just down here to find some roses for… someone. At the lake." For no real reason, the tips of Krory's ears turned a slight pink. "You see… I was trying to cheer her up."

"Well," Lenalee frowned, "I'm pretty sure you're not going to find any roses at the lake."

Krory wilted. She was right. He'd have to think of another gift, and then get it to her, and by the time _that_ happened, she'd already be cheered up, which was too bad because _he'd_ really wanted to be the one that-

"But," Lenalee's voice broke through his thoughts, "I do know a place that probably has them!"

"You do?" A grin erupted onto his face.

"Yup! Follow me!" She started running, sprinting as fast as she could without using her Innocence, away from the busy streets.

* * *

"Where is my dearest Lenalee-hee-hee-hee," Komui whined, drawing her name far longer than it should have been. His beret was in his hands; the only reason it wasn't being torn to shreds was because the cloth was stronger than his hands. A look of pure agony was on his face.

"We'll find her, don't worry, Chief," Reever sighed. He didn't sound at all reassuring or kind; rather, he was tired and sick of his supervisor's antics, especially concerning his sister.

"But I want her _noooow!"_ Komui sounded and looked like a three-year-old demanding attention. "Only she can make my coffee right!"

Reever sighed.

Rouvelier entered Komui's office, as he was apt to do. He ignored the crying chief, instead saying, "Both Exorcists are gone without telling anyone. They both left without signing out as they know they are supposed to do. That is _strictly_ against the Order's rules, as it is important that we all know where they are. I'll have them both written up immediately."

"Uh, Inspector, Krory doesn't even know what the protocols are here," Reever answered before Komui would embarrass himself.

"That doesn't matter," Rouvelier snapped shortly. "He should be under supervision at all times. And, I should add, _nobody_ will talk to or interact with him."

"But why?" This was Komui.

"Because it will harm his memory to have people influencing him now. I expect you to enforce this new rule. He should be watched at all times but interacted with, none." He turned around sharply. "That is all." He left the room.

"Uh, Chief, this is getting ridiculous," Reever opined with a sigh.

"I know," Komui said calmly; the Inspector's appearance had calmed him down quite a bit. "But… he's my superior, and I can't help it."

Reever slumped, picking up the large stack of paper. "Chief, I need you to sign these." His entire body leaned forward from the weight.

Komui sighed, defeated, and picked up his pen. Saddened that he'd actually have to work, and by the fact that his precious sister was gone, he picked up a sheet and placed his signature on the dotted line.

* * *

"Sorry," the shopkeeper frowned at the exorcists in his doorway, "we're fresh outta roses."

Krory wilted for the second time that day. With pleading eyes, Lenalee begged, "Well, sir, can we come in and see what else is here? Surely we can find a replacement."

The man, short and stocky of build, stopped to think a minute. "Well, all right," he said finally. "I've just gotta go at twelve, so be sure to hurry, okay?"

Lenalee smiled widely and hugged him. "Thank you, sir!"

Once inside, Krory looked around in wonder. Flowers adorned every shelf and wall of the room. Though none were roses, each was striking or sweet in its own way. A large potted tree sat in one corner, and in another a fern sat in a brightly colored pot.

"All right, well, here they are," the flower shop owner said amiably.

"Well," Krory said in awe, "I don't know if I can choose one…"

"I could give you a bouquet of several varieties," the flower shop owner replied.

Krory thought this over for a second, then shook his head. "No, thank you, sir. I'm looking for… something special…" Both Lenalee and the shopkeeper knew what he was talking about. He wanted to get her something that would mean something, far more distinct than a bunch of flowers put together. It would mean more if they were the same kind, in his opinion.

"Oh," Krory gasped, dazzled by all the flowers, "this would be so much easier if I remembered my favorite ones."

"Well," Lenalee offered, "why don't you give her _her_ favorites?"

Krory slumped. "I don't know what her favorite flowers are. It never occurred to me to ask."

"Hmm." Lenalee looked ceiling-ward in thought. "Maybe I know her favorites. Could you tell me who she is?"

Krory turned bright red. "N-no," he stammered, "because she wants to remain an… ano-an… She doesn't want to be found." _She doesn't need her problems put on display,_ he told himself once again.

"Oh. Well, that's a problem," Lenalee frowned. "Could you at least tell me _hints_?"

Well, there seemed to be no trouble with that. As long as he kept it so vague she'd never find out, Miranda was safe. "All right," he agreed.

"Okay… is she an Exorcist?" Lenalee smiled.

"Uh, y-yes."

"And does she live at the headquarters?"

Who didn't? "Yes, of course!" What a silly question.

Lenalee smiled with glee. There were only two female Exorcists that she knew of that lived at the Order, so that narrowed it down to herself or Miranda.

Lenalee thought a moment for a question. "Do you know where she is?"

Krory paused. "I… um… I'm not sure. I'll have to check when we get back to the Order," he decided; telling her that she was probably in Miranda's room was a dead giveaway.

Lenalee smiled. "So she's at the Order right now."

"Of course!" Lenalee thought a moment.

"Well," she frowned, "I'm not really sure what you should get her, either." Krory slumped again.

"But," she hurried to finish, "maybe Miranda will like your favorite flower!"

Krory froze. His eyes were as wide as saucers, and one hand flew up to cover his mouth, as if he could somehow swallow the words back. "H-how'd you know?"

Lenalee smiled. "It's kind of obvious."

"It… is?" Krory looked stricken. He thought about the people he'd asked about it – Allen, Lavi… if it really was that obvious… Tears of surprise sprang to his eyes. "B-but that means that her problems are all over the Order!" He hunkered down in his cloak, trying not to be seen. However, that was nearly impossible for a man his size, and he just ended up looking down at the floor. "I've failed in trying to cheer her up, and now all I've done is gone and made it worse," he moaned pitifully.

Lenalee put a hand on his arm in a friendly manner. "Now, Krory, don't be sad. You were just trying to cheer her up, right?" He nodded, still seemingly fascinated by the pattern of the tiles on the floor. "Well, then, you did the right thing. You were just asking around because you needed to know how to help her, am I right?" Again, he nodded.

"Then how about you cheer up, and let's find Miranda some flowers!" He shakily took a breath, nodded again, and proceeded to look around the shelves.

"Oh, I wish I knew which ones were my favorites," he sighed again.

"Why wouldn't you?" the shopkeeper asked, confused.

"Because," Krory answered sadly, "something happened to me not too long ago and I can't remember anything past about a few days ago, when I woke up after the accident." The shopkeeper frowned.

"I'm sorry," he said, stroking the five-o-clock shadow on his chin. "I know what flowers would be perfect for your lady, given that story."

"Oh, she's not my lady," Krory hurriedly explained. "Just a friend."

A twinkle in the man's eye suggested he didn't believe Krory, and he answered, "All right, for your _friend_ then." He moved to a shelf two rows over and picked up a vase full of small blue flowers. "I hope you'll find these satisfactory." Lenalee smiled when she caught sight of them.

"Great!" Krory took the flowers carefully. He examined with awe the minute petals, each in a varying shade of light blue. The bright yellow centers captured his eye, so unbelievably tiny. In a word, the flowers were… perfect, he decided, so astonishingly and inexplicably flawless gifts for Miranda. "Um…" He thought a moment, then took a wad of money out of his pocket. "Keep the change!"

The man stared at the wad a moment, then a big grin blossomed onto his face. "Why, thank you, sir!" Lenalee rushed Krory out of the shop before he could do anything more that she would regret.

"Come on, Krory," she said with a smile, "let's go back to the Order."

At the base of the cliff, Krory grabbed a large rock that jutted out as a handhold. He set the flowers on a rock that stuck out, planning to take them with him the next step and put them up higher, so he could repeat the process.

"Uh, Krory," Lenalee paused a second, "what are you doing?"

"Why, I'm going up to the Order, of course!" You could hear the words, 'silly, why are you just standing there?' in his tone.

"Um, Krory, there's an elevator."

"…what." He dropped back down to the ground, and followed Lenalee sheepishly to the elevator.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, what do you know? This chapter's up a little earlier than I expected!**

**Well, next one should be in a week! Till then, please remember to review!**

"Lavi?" Krory asked.

Lavi turned around, surprised by the tall man's sudden appearance. "Yeah?"

"Where's Miranda?" Lavi's eye fell on the flowers in Krory's hands. Krory saw this and blanched. "Um. They're- ah- not from me."

Lavi smiled. "Well, who are they from then?"

Krory's eyes widened. Caught. "Um- they- um- Allen!"

Lavi looked skeptical. "…Allen?"

"Why, yes!" Krory nodded emphatically. "He… he saw that she was upset, and… and he wanted to comfort her. And- and he told me to give her the flowers because – because – he – was, um… busy."

"I see." Lavi gestured upstairs. "She's in her room."

"Thanks!" Krory started to bolt off.

"I guess I'll tell Allen that you got them to her, safe and sound," Lavi innocently stated, acting like he was about to leave.

"_No!"_ Krory froze mid-step. "Ah- that is- _I'll_ tell him. You don't have to. Ah- Bookman probably has you busy anyway-"

"Nonsense!" Lavi grinned. "It's a good excuse to get away. Besides, you'll be so busy getting them to her, you won't have a chance to tell him. Really. I insist." Lavi just liked watching the taller Exorcist stumble for words.

"Um- actually-" Krory frowned. "I can tell him. It's- really, it's- it's- he'll probably be – he'll be unhappy that I told you!" Krory fumbled. "He- I, ah, wasn't supposed to tell anyone."

"Oh, okay." Lavi watched after him. "If you're sure," he called back.

"Quite sure!" Krory yelled back one last time. "Thank you!"

* * *

Krory stood outside Miranda's room, pacing nervously.

"Here, Miranda," he tried quietly, so she wouldn't hear. "I got these for you." He frowned, shaking his head. "Miranda, I found these flowers, and they reminded me of you, because… ah…" He looked at the flowers. That didn't seem right either. "I just happened to find these flowers, and I…" That didn't even seem to try to work. "Hello, Miranda, guess what? I have flowers for you!" The vampire-like exorcist slumped in disappointment; this wasn't as easy as it had seemed down in the village. _Maybe I should just give them to her and see what happens from there, _he decided. He put his hand up to knock on the door.

The sound of crying from inside froze him in his tracks. "All my fault," he heard Miranda whispering from inside. "The entire loss of the war… all my fault…" She broke down in sobs, but still, he could hear her saying something, almost as a chant.

"Miranda, Miranda, she's all bad luck," the poor woman sobbed. Krory bristled. "Full of doom and gloom and misery, what a dumb and ugly duck!" Krory put one hand on the doorknob, almost going in, but stopping himself as he heard her voice starting up again. "Looking for a job today? Who cares, you'll just get chucked!"

Krory could stand it no longer. He burst into her room, angered that someone would say that about his friend. "That's not true!" he exclaimed to the startled woman. "That's not true at all! Who would dare say such a thing?" He stopped himself, realizing for the first time how much he had just invaded her privacy. "I… ah… well, I think you've brought me nothing but _good_ luck since I met you," he bravely tried to recover. "And… and you're not full of doom, gloom, or misery at all! You're the most helpful, caring person I know! You're… you're very smart, and pretty…" Krory blushed. "And you're definitely not a _duck_," he chuckled quietly. "And I don't care if you've been fired from a job or two," he finished. "I wouldn't care if you were fired from a _hundred_ jobs, you'd still be my best-" He stopped as he saw her sobs intensifying. "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

Miranda whispered a few words that Krory couldn't quite hear, and then she laughed through her tears. "No," she whispered, hugging him. "You said all the _right_ things!"

Krory stood awkwardly, uncertain what to do. Normally, he would hug back, but in her eagerness, she had trapped his arms, and now he didn't know what to do. "I… I got these for you…" he tried feebly.

Miranda backed up, and he showed her the miraculously unharmed flowers. "I wanted to cheer you up," he explained. She carefully accepted them.

"They're… beautiful," she whispered, taking one of the small blue flowers in her hand. "How did you know?"

Krory frowned, uncertain of her meaning. "The man at the store suggested them," he explained. "I thought they looked pretty."

"You mean… you don't know what kind they are?" Miranda asked, surprised.

"No."

"They're forget-me-nots." She smiled. "A flower shop used to sell them in the village where I grew up. I always thought they were so pretty."

Krory smiled, then looked around, noticing for the first time the clocks that covered the walls and floor. "Um… what are those?" he asked, pointing.

Miranda looked, then smiled. "That's just my Innocence," she explained. "Outside of this room, for the entire Black Order, time is standing still."

"Oh." Krory found this concept hard to grasp. "You can do that?"

* * *

Lavi snickered as he watched Krory enter the room and saw the door close. Then, his snicker turned to a confused expression as, not two seconds later, Krory walked back out of the room, no longer carrying the flowers. "Oh, hello, Lavi," he grinned as he saw the junior Bookman, walking past, looking as though he had not a care in the world.

Lavi sighed. _I think,_ he decided, _I just got time-stopped._

* * *

"Um…" Krory paused as he stood in the doorway of Komui's office, quite uncertain of himself.

"Yes, Krory? What is it?" Komui didn't look up from whatever he was doing.

"I… I was wondering… when is Miranda's birthday?" Krory looked at the floor.

"Hmm…" Komui frowned, shuffling through the massive amount of papers on his desk until he came across a book. "Aha! Here we are! This has information on everyone here. Including birthdays." He thumbed through it. "Lavi… Lawrence… Aha! Lotto, Miranda."

"Um… you have it backwards," Krory quietly pointed out. Komui ignored him.

"Let's see… it says here that her birthday is New Year's Day." Komui closed the book, looking up at Krory for the first time. "There you have it, then!"

Krory paused uncertainly. "Um… when's that?"

"Don't be silly, everyone knows when New Year's is," Komui chided. "It's January First!"

"Oh! Great!" Krory still lingered, not quite finished. "And… what month is it now?"

"Why it's December, of course!" Komui exclaimed. "December 15!"

"Great!" Krory grinned. "Thank you so much!" He almost ran out of the office, mind set on exactly where he was going to go.

* * *

"I think something's up with Krory and Miranda," Lavi said nonchalantly as he sat down next to Allen at the cafeteria. Allen moved a stack of empty bowls so he could see his friend.

"Why do you say that?" He slurped another long string of spaghetti.

"Because," Lavi replied with a shrug, "I saw him earlier. He was trying to give flowers to her. He blamed it on you, by the way," he added. "He said that you wanted to give 'em to her and he was just playing delivery-boy. Somehow, that didn't seem right."

Allen shook his head. "No, I haven't even seen her today."

Lenalee sat down next to Allen. Her own small plate of food seemed microscopic next to his gargantuan portions. "What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing," Lavi smirked. "Just Krory and Miranda."

"Oh," Lenalee gave an understanding nod. "Speaking of which," she indicated the tall man walking up to the table, "hello, Krory!"

"Why, hello Lenalee," he was smiling like it was Christmas. He sat down, his tray of creampuffs nearly overflowing onto Allen's mitarashi dango. Krory took a giant bite, and vanilla filling spilled out the side of the pastry. Everyone wondered if he'd eaten anything else since he'd first awoken, but none asked.

"I was wondering," Krory asked between sugar-filled bites, "why do we celebrate birthdays?"

The other three blinked at the unexpected and very child-like question. "Uh," Allen started, "I guess it's because it's celebrating how long we've been alive," he shrugged.

"Oh." Krory thought a moment. "Um… how do you celebrate birthdays?"

There was a long pause as nobody quite knew what to say. "Well," Lavi finally answered, "generally, there's a party, where you open gifts, eat cake, and just plain have a good time."

"Oh, okay!" This seemed to satisfy him momentarily, but then a confused expression clouded his face. "So, you always plan your party yourself?"

"Oh, no!" Lavi was glad to answer this one. "The best birthday parties are the surprise parties, where your friends plan it and you don't even know until you walk into the room!"

"A… surprise party?" A grin grew on Krory's face. "Yes! That would be great!"

Allen, Lavi, and Lenalee looked at each other in bewilderment. "Um, Krory," Lavi frowned, "in order for it to be a _surprise_ party, you… kinda have to not _know _about it. Besides, your birthday's almost a year away."

"Oh, it's not for me!" Krory assured them. "It's for someone else!" Then a new thought made him pause. "Um… what's New Year's?"

"Well," Lenalee answered, "New Year's is when everyone stays up until midnight on December 31st and counts down to the new year."

"Oh." Krory seemed to be deep in thought. "And… everyone celebrates New Year's?"

"That I know of," Lenalee told him cautiously.

"Then… maybe…" Krory trailed off, seeming to be lost in thought. "Do you think, that this year, maybe, instead of a New Year's party, we could have… a surprise birthday party for someone?"

The other Exorcists at the table looked around the table at each other in confusion. "Um… who has a birthday on New Year's Day?" Lavi frowned. "I sure don't know anybody who does."

The other exorcists nodded in agreement.

Krory looked at the table in embarrassment for his friends. "Um… it was for Miranda…" he awkwardly told them.

"Oh." Lavi's quiet vocalization fairly summed up the way they all felt. None of them had even considered when her birthday was. "Well… great idea, Krory! We've just got to make sure that she doesn't find out!"

Krory nodded, quickly forgetting the fact that they hadn't known her birthday. "Right! And we should have a large cake…"

* * *

That night, as he lay in bed, Krory's eyes gradually drifted closed as he fell into a deep slumber.

_Bubbles._

_Everywhere there were blue bubbles._

_One of the bubbles flew into a flower, and the flower dried up, crumbling to the ground._

_Through the deadly bubbles hovering in the air, two figures were visible, one markedly larger than the other. It seemed a giant dragon, its two claw-like legs dangerously in front of it. It hovered several feet above the ground, its grotesque face seeming to grin evilly._

_Across the room, the other figure, markedly smaller than the first, snarled angrily. Its long, dagger-sharp teeth gleamed dangerously as it glared with eyes black as night, ominous yellow rings in the center glowing brilliantly. Its hair stood on end, the long white shock of hair standing out among the black. Otherwise, the monster's appearance seemed to mock that of an ordinary man, though it was obvious that this was a far more evil form._

Krory tossed and turned fitfully, restlessly gnawing on the pillow clutched tightly in his arms. His sharp teeth easily shredded through the delicate fabric, cotton poking through from beneath the long tears.

_The monster lunged at the large dragon, shooting through the air like a viper to reach the large purple dragon-like being, which seemed to be creating the blue orbs. The bubbles tore at the monster, its body shriveling as it attempted to reach the large beast, until it fell, defeated, to the ground in a heap._

Krory clutched the remains of his tattered pillow, still chewing furiously. The poor thing was little more than cotton with a few shreds of cloth, though a small bit seemed to be bravely attempting to hold its shape. The slumbering man turned once more on the bed.

_As the monster lay on the ground, a beautiful woman appeared from seemingly nowhere and looked down at it almost pityingly, actually managing to somehow feel sorry for the thing._

_A gentle breeze blew, and suddenly the monster lunged for the woman's neck with strength that seemed impossible for any creature in such a state. The poor girl didn't even have time to move before it was upon her, drawing the very life from her veins._

Krory's eyes flew open, and he whimpered, pulling the cloth and cotton from his mouth almost without noticing.

_I must have had a nightmare,_ he thought. _But… why do I feel fear? And… and… guilt? I can't remember what my dream was, but… but…_

_Why am I afraid?_

_And why, why do I feel so terribly guilty?_

* * *

Krory sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes.

It was no use.

He'd been trying for a half an hour to get back to sleep, but he just couldn't. Sleep was a friend that had forgotten him.

He sat up and looked at the clock. Three-thirty a.m. Maybe he could get – what did Allen call it? Oh, yes! He would get a midnight snack, and that would help him sleep.

He put on his cloak and walked to the cafeteria, not expecting to find many people there, since it was the middle of the night. In the cafeteria, he looked around. The only person he could see was Lavi, who seemed to be having trouble sleeping as well. He walked to the table at which Lavi was seated.

"Hello, Lavi," he greeted. "Ah, may I sit down?"

Lavi smiled. "Of course!" He gestured to a seat. "Trouble sleeping?" Krory nodded. "Me, too. I couldn't get back to sleep after that dream I had."

"Oh?" Krory took the indicated seat, interested. "What was it?"

Krory listened for a while as Lavi related an interesting dream involving girls and barefoot chases, but soon his eyes started to feel heavy.

_No!_ he told himself. _I should listen to this interesting dream… but this room is so warm… and this chair is so comfortable… and…_

"…and then I-" Lavi cut himself off when he heard the taller exorcist snore. "Huh? He fell asleep!" He looked around to make sure that nobody was around, then a sneaky grin lit his face. "Don't move, Krory," he whispered, getting up. "I'll be right back."

Lavi returned a few minutes later, arms laden with various items that he either owned or had just bought. He set them down on the table where Krory dozed, careful not to make a sound, and started to get to work, hands gentle but quick in their work. "This is gonna be a masterpiece!" he grinned.

* * *

Krory moaned, opening his eyes.

All of the lights were on in the busy cafeteria.

He blinked a few times, trying to wake himself up fully. What was he doing in the cafeteria? The last thing he remembered, he had had a nightmare… and he couldn't go back to sleep… so he had gone here… to get a midnight snack. Remembering through the sleepy haze was difficult. After that… he had… talked with Lavi… and… and…

_I must have fallen asleep,_ Krory realized. _I need to find Lavi so that I can apologize._

He stood, looking around for Lavi.

Several people snickered.

"What?" Krory asked, confused. "What is it?"

"Why- why don't you look in the mirror," one person chuckled.

Krory dashed to the nearest mirror, which was in the bathroom, and stared.

His face was as white as powder, with something red stained in two streams coming out of either side of his mouth, carefully made to look like dried blood.

And his white streak.

It was black.

He hurriedly washed his face, then tried to wash his hair using the small sink. It didn't seem to affect the shade of his hair any, but the water that he used quickly turned red.

More than a little shocked, Krory stared at his stained gloves.

"What… what on earth…?" He stared in the mirror once more, then put his hair back under the faucet.

However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make his hair turn white again.

He stared into the mirror at his black hair, then once more at his nearly blood-red hands.

_My hair's black – but it's coming off red!_ he panicked quietly.

_What's going on?_


	6. Chapter 6

After half an hour of scrubbing and attempting to wash his once-white hair, it had turned from the pitch black it had been to a lovely shade of dark crimson. It looked like his hair was bleeding.

Though the water was still not clear, whatever it was on his hair wasn't coming off quite as dark as it had been. He stood up straight, looking at his reflection in the mirror, depressed. He had been able to get the paint on his face off easily, but his hair didn't want to cooperate.

Finally, he gave up. It was still dark red, and very unnerving to look at, but when it's always hanging in front of your eyes, what choice did you have? He sat down, on the floor, in front of the sink, wondering how on earth he was going to explain this to everyone else… especially Miranda.

Miranda! Krory's eyes widened in realization. He still needed to ask her to her birthday party, which she thought was a New Year's party!

But how could he do that… if he was too embarrassed to even go near her?

He thought about it. _Maybe I should get some help…_

Krory swallowed, deliberately studying the wall, his back to the person that had approached, hoping that perhaps they hadn't noticed him.

"Krory? What's wrong?" Krory let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Oh, Lenalee! It's you!" He took a deep breath. "Could I ask you something? It's… um… kind of important."

"Sure, Krory." Lenalee frowned worriedly. "What is it?"

"Um… how do you get... hair dye out?" The question caught the girl off guard.

"Hair dye?" she frowned. "You mean out of your clothes?"

"No," Krory corrected miserably. "Out of… out of your hair." He continued to study the wall, hunching down in a rather obvious attempt to avoid being seen.

"Well," Lenalee frowned, "that depends. What kind was it?"

"Um… I don't know…" One hand flew to the exorcist's head in what seemed to be worry.

"Was it temporary or permanent?" she tried again, hoping that perhaps he had noticed at least that on the bottle.

"I'm afraid that I… um… still don't know," Krory swallowed.

Lenalee looked at Krory with compassion. "Maybe you should let me see," she coaxed. "We're all alone, and besides," she added hopefully, "it can't be _that_ bad…"

Krory thought a moment, then slowly turned around to reveal that his long white streak had been dyed an extremely dark crimson. "D-do you think you can fix it?" he asked hopefully.

"I don't know," Lenalee answered honestly. Krory wilted. "Have you tried washing it?"

"Three times," Krory nodded sadly.

"Well, let's go to the bathroom," she suggested. "There's got to be _something_ that we can do." She began to lead him away. "What happened?"

"W... well, I couldn't sleep, so I went to the cafeteria. Lavi and I were the only ones there; even Jerry was asleep! Anyway, he started talking about an interesting dream he'd had, and… and the next thing I knew it was morning. I guess I must have fallen asleep… anyway, I was trying to find Lavi to apologize for falling asleep while he was talking, when a nice man suggested that I look in the mirror, and so… so I did." Krory shuddered quietly.

Lenalee frowned. "So you fell asleep and Lavi decided to play a prank on you."

"Y-yes, I suppose so…" As Lenalee led him to his room, Krory looked down sadly. "Everything else came off as I was trying to wash my hair…"

* * *

They had scrubbed for hours.

It still wasn't coming off.

Although it had lightened quite a bit, it wasn't anywhere close to the white it once had been. Unfortunately, it also wasn't lightening any more.

"I'm afraid this is as good as it's going to get," Lenalee sighed, washing her hands of the soap and rinsing his hair out. He was bent over the sink, a very awkward position for someone as tall as him.

Finally he straightened up, a towel wrapped around his head. It looked kind of comical, actually…

"I'm sorry, Krory, but I can't do any more with it," Lenalee sighed. "I guess you'll just have to wait until it grows out."

"How long will that take?" Krory asked anxiously.

"I'm not sure." Lenalee thought a moment. "Probably about a year."

"A year?" His mouth hung open, the bottom row of fangs clearly visible.

Lenalee sighed. "I'm afraid so, Krory." She looked at the door. "I guess I'll go talk to Lavi."

Krory nodded morosely, leaving to hide in his room.

* * *

"Lavi," Lenalee frowned, "what kind of hair dye did you use on Krory?"

Lavi grinned. "I used this stuff," he explained, producing an empty bottle of hair dye. "Don't worry," he added as she took the bottle and studied it, "it says it comes out after one washing."

Lenalee stood quietly for a moment, reading. "How much did you use?" she almost didn't dare to ask.

"Well," he explained, "it took half the bottle to get it dark enough, so then I used the other half to make sure that it wouldn't come out before he woke up." He smiled. "You shoulda seen how it looked when I was done. Best bottle of hair dye I ever used."

"So… you just dumped the entire bottle into his hair?" Lenalee swallowed.

"Well, sure." Lavi couldn't tell where she was going. "Why not?"

"Because," Lenalee looked up at him, "this bottle says that you're _supposed_ to dilute it with water first and then use only a few drops at a time until you get it to look the way you want, and to let it sit when you're done, because it _darkens_ when it dries." She glowered at him. "Krory's hair is pink and it's not washing out."

Lavi burst out laughing. "_P-pink?_"

"It's not funny, Lavi," Lenalee growled. "He _was _going to ask Miranda to go to the _New Year's party_ tonight. But now he feels too self-conscious." Lavi's laughter came to an abrupt halt. "Because his hair is pink." She continued to glare at Lavi. "Because _somebody_ didn't look at the _directions_ before they played with hair dye."

"Oh." Lavi looked sincerely apologetic. "What are you gonna do?"

"I guess I'll try the bleach," Lenalee sighed. "I'll just be really careful not to get it on his black hair."

* * *

Krory picked slowly through the contents of his drawer, searching for one item in particular.

_"I'm sorry, Krory, but I can't do any more with it," Lenalee sighed. "I guess you'll just have to wait until it grows out."_

_"How long will that take?" Krory asked anxiously._

_"I'm not sure." Lenalee thought a moment. "Probably about a year."_

A year.

Krory's fingers closed around the item, and he pulled his hand from the drawer. _I can't spend a year with pink hair._ He used his free hand to pull his once white streak straight, opening the scissors as wide as he could and bringing them in close to his head. _I've never been without it, _he realized. _Allen says that I've had it as long as he's known me. _He closed his eyes, cringing, as he tried to convince himself to close the scissors.

"Krory?" On the other side of his door, Miranda tentatively knocked. The scissors clattered to the floor as Krory jumped in surprise.

"I'm not here right now!" Krory panicked.

Miranda frowned, more than a little confused. "If you're not here, then… then where are you?"

Krory raced to come up with something. "I'm… in the cafeteria. With Allen. Eating… eating… cream puffs!"

Miranda blinked. "Then who am I talking to?"

"Nobody!" Krory called out hurriedly. "You're not talking to anybody. You're probably imagining it. Maybe even dreaming. Yes, that's it, you're dreaming!"

Miranda shook her head. "Krory, I know you're in there," she called in softly. She tried the door, only to find it locked. "May I come in?"

There was a moment of shuffling, then the door opened to… an empty room? "Krory," she frowned, "where are you?"

"I'm… right here," the door nearly whispered.

"What's wrong?" Miranda asked as she walked into the room, at which point the door closed to reveal Krory, who remained turned steadily away from her so that she couldn't see his face.

"Nothing," Krory lied. "Nothing at all! Why?"

"Krory," she softly stated, "there's something bothering you. What is it? Maybe I can help."

Krory shook his head emphatically, still refusing to turn around. "No," he told her, "I… I'm fine." He hunched down until his shoulders were up around his pointed ears.

"Krory," Miranda continued to coax, finally seeing one part of the problem, "I promise I won't laugh."

He seemed to straighten a little. "You promise?"

Miranda nodded, though, with his back to her, there wasn't much of a chance that he could see this. "I promise." Slowly, uncertainly, he turned around.

His pink streak seemed to almost glow in the bright light of the room. Miranda bit her tongue, forcing herself to keep her promise. She couldn't giggle, no matter how much she wanted to.

"Oh… dear…." She walked closer to him hesitantly to look at the dyed hair. She didn't even need to ask if he'd tried washing it; its shine practically screamed, "I'm clean! I've been washed all morning!"

"Who…" She was almost afraid to finish the sentence.

"L-Lavi." She nodded; the prankster _would_ do something like this. "I fell asleep in the cafeteria last night, talking to him, and woke up like this." He looked down, embarrassed.

Miranda thought a moment. "I think I might know something that could get it out," she suggested quietly. "I mean, I've never tried it on hair dye before, but it always got out the things that the children in the village threw into my hair." She smiled awkwardly.

Krory looked up, suddenly very interested. "What is it?"

"It's something my mother taught me, actually," she informed him. "When I was little, I needed it quite a bit when the children would throw things at me…"

The brats! How could they—Krory calmed himself down. "And you think it'll work?"

"I hope so, but I'm not positive it will," she admitted. "I just need to pick up a few things from the kitchen…"

* * *

Krory held his nose with one hand and the pinkish streak on his head with two fingers of the other as far from his head as he could get it. "I'm afraid to say, that smells…" He tried to find a polite word.

"Terrible," she finished for him, coating the hair once more with the greasy home remedy. "But it always worked, I don't see why it shouldn't now…"

There was a sudden knock on the door, and Miranda opened it to find Lenalee, bottle of bleach in one hand and a bucket of water in the other. Her nose wrinkled, and she said, "Umm, I see you've already got it…." She took an unconscious step backwards. "I'll, uh, be around if it doesn't work…" And with that, Lenalee hurried out of the room, away from the stench.

Miranda blinked with surprise, then turned back to Krory's beautiful pink hair. "I think it might be coming out," she said after a few minutes.

"Really?" The sooner it was out, the sooner it could be white again, and the sooner the smell could leave.

"Yes, I think it needs to stay in there another ten minutes or so…" Miranda took a glance at the clock, then nodded.

"Oh… oh, good." He sighed, then immediately regretted it. After a minute of coughing, he regained his composure. "Um, Miranda? I had a question…"

She looked up, interested. "Yes?"

"Uh… I was wondering, if, maybe…" Why was he so nervous? There was nothing to be nervous about! He was just asking a question. "So, uh, I was wondering if you might be able to accompany me to…"

The door burst open. Rouvelier glowered at them in the doorway, glaring specifically at Miranda.

She shrunk behind Krory, easily hidden by his tall frame. "Oh, Mr. Rouvelier!" Krory, clueless, gave a fanged grin. "Hello, what do you need?" He still was holding his nose shut, and his hair out from his head as far as he could manage. "I was just undying my hair!"

Rouvelier's scowl hardened. "Yes. Well. Miranda, what are you doing in here?"

Her dark eyes widened. "I was just…" The look on his face silenced her, and she shrunk.

"Miranda, if you would kindly leave," Rouvelier said through clenched teeth. Miranda nodded, looking at the floor and hurrying her way past Krory and Rouvelier.

"Miranda? Whatever is the matter?" Krory stood up, letting go of his nose and letting the stinky hair flop into his face without thinking. Right now, he didn't care though. "Mr. Rouvelier? Why are you making her leave? What did I do?"

"It is for the good of all of us if you just stay in here and don't talk to anyone." Hitler – that is, Rouvelier turned on his heel to leave. He stopped, grabbed Miranda by the arm, and the last thing Krory saw before they left was her pleading eyes, tears starting to pour over her cheeks.

"W-wait!" Krory held out a hand. "P-please! What did I do?" He raced to the doorway, tears starting to spring from his eyes. "What did I do wrong…"

* * *

Krory only left his room the rest of that day to go to the bathroom to wash the remainder of the stuff out of his hair once again. He returned to his room, his once-again white streak covering one eye as usual. He sat alone on his bed, and picked up the photograph he had found on his bedside table a few days ago. His own face beamed toothily back at him.

He sighed, laying stomach-down on his bed miserably, his hands supporting his head so he stared at the wall. _So, I suppose I have to stay in here until the mission. That's what Rouvelier told me to do… but what about after?_ He brushed this thought aside.

_I wonder what the mission will be… It'll be the first one I remember,_ he thought in a halfhearted attempt to cheer himself up. _Just think of it… those things Komui calls 'akuma', and I'll finally be able to use my Innocence, whatever that is… But I don't like fights, and that's mostly what we have to do._

He sighed, now thoroughly depressed. _Why does everyone have to fight? It's useless… people just disagree with each other, then fight, then disagree again… Why don't you cheer up, Krory? _He asked himself.

He sighed again. _I don't want to cheer up._

_Innocence. I wonder what mine is. Allen's is his arm, and Lavi has that peculiar hammer…_ He sat up again, feeling restlessly like a caged animal. His gaze caught the mirror, particularly the fangs poking out of his mouth, and he turned away, looking at the floor and feeling somewhat ashamed.

Pointed ears, pointed teeth, pointed hair… It seemed that he was _designed_ to be…pointy. And sharp objects hurt people. His mind flickered to that last, tearful gaze that Miranda had given him before she was dragged out of the room.

_This guilt again! I didn't do anything, why am I feeling so guilty!_ For he was… it seemed as if a waterfall of regret had poured onto him suddenly, and he sat down again on his bed, holding his head in his hands. _Whoever it was I did something to before… whatever I did, I'm terribly sorry…_

He wept, not only for Miranda and how she'd been unceremoniously ripped from him, but also for the unknown wrong he had apparently committed.

* * *

Hours later, sleep finally found him, relieving him of the remorse he'd felt. He turned in his sleep, as restless in slumber as he had been awake.

_The large, metallic thing shot at the much smaller, human-like monster, and the latter dodged easily. The grin on its face accentuated the row of razor-like fangs in its mouth, its dual-toned hair waving slightly in the wind. The black orbs narrowed as it shot closer to the machine._

_Only a split second had passed before the monster landed on the machine, sinking its fangs into the metal easily and drawing the blood from its veins. It exploded underneath him, and he leapt through the air to a second machine and repeated the process, its black cloak waving in the wind._

_It continued the same way until all the machines were gone, and the monster landed triumphantly on two feet on the ground. It wiped a hand across its bloody mouth, still grinning like a madman._

Krory awoke with a start, sweat pouring from his forehead. _I must have had another nightmare,_ he thought. _If only I could remember what it was…_

His heart stopped when he caught a glance in the mirror. His hair was standing on end, and his eyes were entirely black as the midnight sky, yellow centers almost glowing in the dark. Unbelievingly, he squeezed his eyes shut shook his head back and forth, stealing another glance in the mirror.

His eyes had changed back to their normal color, his hair flopping back down in front of his left eye. Heart beating rapidly, he lay back down. _What could that mean? What… what is happening to me?_


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry that it's been forever! I have been really busy, and when I did finish the chapters, there were other problems that came up. Hope to have the next chapter up by the end of the week.**

The morning sun awoke Krory; it had taken him literally hours to get back to sleep after the terrifying events of the previous night. Fortunately, the rest of the night had been a dreamless one for him, much to his relief.

He donned his black cloak with depression. Why did all the clothing here have to be black? It only worsened his mood. He sat dejectedly, bored, on his bed, unsure now of how he was supposed to live his life. He'd never been confined that he was able to recall, and this was misery to him.

"I've always been able to wander the Order and talk to whoever I wanted," Krory sighed to nobody in particular. "I could even go into the surrounding town and buy things. Why am I being confined?" By now he was shouting at nobody, unleashing his emotions on thin air. Sighing, he slumped forwards, burying his hands in his dual-colored hair.

Eventually, he sat up. Once again, his eyes fell over the dresser filled with interesting trinkets and useless gadgets. He got up, picking up a lonely book that he'd seen and not bothered to look at before. Now, he had plenty of time to kill, so he figured he might as well start reading.

It was a large book, though oddly enough, it wasn't at all heavy. On its cover read the title, "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare".

"I must have been an avid reader before I forgot everything," Krory decided aloud, carrying the book to his bed. "Though it doesn't look very interesting," he added. The faded brown cover looked as if it should fall off, though it seemed sturdy enough. He turned the front cover carefully, then blinked in surprise.

Why, this wasn't a book at all! Inside, it had a hollow space perfect for carrying small objects and concealing them from the general public. Interested in this newfound wonder, he dumped out all the contents onto his bed.

A pink, cheaply made necklace that looked pretty enough, though it was caked in dirt. Setting this aside, he picked up a half-sharpened pencil, still useful, and placed it delicately by the dirty necklace. Next, a very old-looking note. 'Arystar—I will be down in the village for a few days. Please take care of the flowers. Much love, Grandfather.' This looked important… he hadn't even known he'd had a grandfather! He set it aside, as well.

Something caught his eye, something at the bottom of the box that almost looked like a face. Carefully, he shifted the other objects in the box to an unoccupied spot on his bed, then gently picked up the picture.

It was a very pretty woman with long blonde hair that was put in ponytails on either side of her head. Confusion marked his face. Wherever had he gotten this? He turned the paper over, searching the back for any sign or clue.

_My dearest Eliade._ Those three words, written on the back of the paper in his own flowing handwriting, were the only hint he had.

_How do you say that?_ he wondered quietly, staring at the name. _El-EYE-add? El-ih-AH-day?_ Then, something clicked. _Eliade. That must be the person Lavi was asking me about right after I woke up. El-ee-odd._ He paused thoughtfully. _What an interesting name._

Somehow, this photograph seemed important, like a link to his forgotten past. He started to set it beside the note from his grandfather, then paused upon reading the words again, the words he himself had written. _My dearest Eliade._ Had she been a close sibling, a friend…? He shook his head, deciding instead to pocket the important-looking picture. Someone might be able to give him answers about the haunting picture of the lady Eliade.

Finally, _finally,_ the cruel-looking Rouvelier released him from his room, just in time to be ushered onto a train with Allen, Lavi, and Miranda.

"Where are we going?" He asked as pleasantly as he could, despite their eternally gloomy faces. Nobody answered. Allen shot an uncomfortable look out the window, and Lavi's eyes averted to the floor. Miranda's gaze fell to her lap.

It was Allen who finally answered. "We're going on our mission, to find the Innocence." The tall man perked up at this reply.

"I can't wait to find the Innocence and help all those poor people!" Krory's fanged mouth stretched upward into a grin, receiving a sigh from both Allen and Lavi.

"Ah, excuse me, but could I have a little help?" They couldn't see the short man for all the luggage and boxes in the way. Miranda leapt upward, concerned for the stranger. "Oh, sir, let me get some of those for you-!" On the way to help him, her foot had gotten stuck behind Allen's. This meant that she face-planted into the boxes, sending the man crashing backwards. Boxes flew everywhere; fortunately, though, none fell open.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sir, could I help in any way?" Miranda frantically began picking up boxes and packages. "I'm such a failure, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"Perfectly fine, Miss, perfectly fine," the man mumbled. "If you could just take a few of these… I'm afraid I'm too short to carry them all at once…"

"Of course, anything sir!" She followed him to a different car where his seat was.

Krory sighed, slightly sad.

During a lull in the nonexistent conversation (they were being awfully quiet and subdued for some reason, Krory noted), the duel-toned-haired man said, "by the way… I was wondering, do either of you know who 'Eliade' is?"

Allen and Lavi straightened.

"Where did you hear about Eliade?" Slightly skeptical and more than a little surprised at the sudden question, Allen didn't want to hurt him, especially not now.

Krory shrugged. "I found a photograph of her earlier in my belongings, and I recalled Lavi asking something about her when I first woke up. I was merely wondering if any of you may have known anything about her. I'm very curious about her, now." He fished through his pockets until he found the picture. "Her, right? I don't think she's related to me, we look nothing alike…" He trailed off at seeing the uncomfortable glances from Lavi and Allen. "Is something wrong?" Confused, Krory wondered if he was somehow making a mistake. "What's the matter?"

Allen answered. "Um, Kro-chan, Eliade is, well… _was_, somebody who… well, you cared for each other very much. Unfortunately, she was killed by an akuma…" _Better to leave it at that,_ he decided, not wanting to go into the detail of his having to kill the akuma.

"Oh…. I'm sorry…" Krory looked downward in respect, as if she were _Allen's_ relative rather than his own. Suddenly, his head sprang upward again. "Oh, by the way!" His hands disappeared under his cloak, where he was hiding something. "I found a lot of other things, too! Like, a note from my grandfather about something, and I found a pretty necklace that could use some cleaning, and did you know they dried flowers?" He pulled out a dried rose. It hung limply, and a petal fell off.

Lavi scratched the back of his neck. "Hehe, that's… great, Kro-chan…"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Also, I found a seed! Not wanting to let the poor little thing die, I planted it this morning, and just _look_!" Pocketing the dead rose, he pulled out a vase that had dirt in it. In the middle of the dirt, a tiny shoot was beginning to appear. "It's already started growing!"

Allen and Lavi leaned forward with interest. "That's strange," Allen commented. "I've never seen a plant grow so quickly…"

"Me neither," Lavi agreed.

"It's a _special_ plant," Krory said with certainty. "And I'll name it… Sprout!"

_He's naming… a plant._ Lavi shook his head.

"Yes, Sprout will be my companion on this trip!" Krory grinned toothily. "Where are we going again? Oh yes, to find the Innocence. Sprout shall help with that, too."

"Uh, are you sure," Lavi suppressed a laugh, "that, uh, Sprout will be able to…?"

"Of course!" Krory nodded firmly. "Just by growing, Sprout is helping me know that I can help even the smallest thing." He peered back at the tiny shoot. "Oddly enough, the blood from the papercut I had earlier is gone…"

"Huh?" The two of them looked at Krory, slightly bewildered. "What are you talking about?"

Krory laughed slightly. "Oh, I had a papercut earlier. So, I reached over to get a bandage for it, but I accidentally dripped some blood on my poor Sprout here… I was going to fix it, but it's gone now."

"You mean…" Allen gulped; this sounded so familiar. "You mean that you bled on it, and it _ate_ the blood?"

Krory looked disgusted at that. "No, no, no, of course not! I'm saying that somehow, the blood just disappeared. Goodness knows little Sprout doesn't eat _blood_. That's disgusting."

"What… what does it—"

"He." Krory held Sprout protectively in his arms.

"Fine," Lavi sighed. "What exactly does _he_ eat then?"

Krory opened his mouth to answer, then blinked. "I… don't know…"

Blood. Allen and Lavi both knew it.

"And it even has a little bud," Krory continued gushing. "I can't wait to see what it looks like in full bloom!"

A sudden voice cut through the quiet train car. "I'm so sorry, please forgive me! I'm so terrible at everything, please accept my profuse apologies, I didn't mean to!" Miranda's voice could probably be heard by the conductor in the front of the train. "Do you need anything to clean up with? I'm so dreadfully sorry, I didn't mean to trip!"

The three exorcists whirled around to find Miranda, on the floor. She'd obviously just tripped over something, and was still sprawled everywhere. A stately-looking woman in the car beside her had coffee spilled all over her clean, white, once-new dress.

"Just go," the woman fumed. Miranda struggled to get up, almost running back to sit beside Krory.

"Ow!" The unlucky woman looked at the back of her hand, which had been scraped pretty badly. "I must've scratched it when I fell…"

Krory's eyes widened as he gently grabbed her hand to examine the scratch, putting the plant carefully on the bench between them. As he looked, a few drops of her blood spilled onto the plant, unnoticed. Miranda smiled, gently pulling her hand back. "It's nothing," she assured Krory. "Just a small scratch… it'll heal."

Krory smiled, then picked up his plant. "Oh, it's growing again!" he exclaimed. "Look, Miranda, you didn't see my adorable little Sprout! And now look, he's blooming!" He squinted. "Is it normal for flowers to have teeth?"

Allen paled. "K-Krory, you might want to put that down," he warned.

"Why would I? It hasn't harmed anyone, and it's just a sweet, innocent little flower," he defended.

"Krory, that thing is dangerous," Lavi added.

"He is no such thing," Krory pouted.

"Then why is it eating Miranda's blood?" Lavi pointed to the plant. Shocked, Krory looked down. It was, indeed, licking up the tiny pool of blood that had dripped to it from Miranda's hand.

"He's – he's just cleaning himself," Krory protested. "All animals do."

"_Animals,_ Krory," Allen pointed out. "Not plants."

"But- but Sprout is a special plant," Krory protested.

Suddenly, without any provocation from the woman, the flower lurched upwards, latching onto Miranda's hand with its newfound teeth. "Ow!" It was bad enough that she'd been hurt before, but now she had a flower biting her wound.

Krory bared his own fangs without thought, though his Innocence wasn't activated. "You let her go," he growled at the flower. He grabbed the stem, pulling it, but the thing wouldn't budge. "I said stop it, you detestable thing!" Suddenly, it let go of her and latched squarely onto his gloved hand. "Ow!" He tried to shake it off, but to no avail. It wouldn't let go.

"Krory, you've gotta listen to me." Allen's voice was calm and even. "This flower is called a 'maneater', and the only way for you to get it to stop is to show it your appreciation and love."

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Krory bit his lip in concentration; trying to free his hand the hard way was getting him nowhere. "Okay," he finally said in between gasps of pain and frustration, "how do I do that?"

"You've gotta treat it like a puppy," Lavi answered.

"Uhh… ow! G-good flower?" Krory was able to wrestle his hand out of the glove, which freed him for a moment, until it started going after his bare hand. "Stop it!"

"Tell it you love it!" Allen and Lavi shouted at the same time.

"What?" Krory was startled. "Okay… I love you?" The flower seemed to hesitate, then bared its teeth once more. "I love you!"

Finally, an hour, several cuts and bruises, and one dead plant later, they had arrived in Romania. The weather was mysteriously dark and threatening to rain. Krory sighed miserably, "I hope I never see one of those dreadful maneaters again…" He looked up excitedly, a sudden new thought occurring to him. "Where are we going next?"

The dark tower loomed over them in the distance, the quiet night eerily still.

"I don't get it," Lavi said, looking around at the dark, quiet houses that seemed too picturesque. "Where are all the townspeople?"

Allen scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know," he admitted, "but this seems a little too… quiet… especially for these people…"

"Oh, have we been here before?" Krory, clueless to the mood or calm atmosphere, asked quite loudly.

Allen nodded. "Yes… all but Miranda."

Said woman was clinging to Krory very closely, clutching the side of his cloak with a trembling hand. "A-are you sure we're in the right place?" Nervously, she wiped a stray lock of hair out of her face, bringing her hand close to her mouth when she heard a cricket cheeping in the distance.

They took a cautious step forward. Lavi and Allen were already hesitant for what they were about to have to do, and this stillness in the air wasn't helping at all.

"All right, how do we find the Innocence?" Krory was eager to get his 'first' mission underway. Allen and Lavi looked at each other, pain in each of their eyes.

"W-we usually ask people if anything s-strange has been going on," Miranda started, never letting go of the safety of Krory's cloak. "And if there isn't, then we have to search…"

"Ah, I see! Now, where do we find anyone who's awake?" Krory wondered aloud, slightly puzzled.

"Well, we all try to find an inn somewhere," Allen answered. "But this time, we've got to-"

"Fantastic! I believe I found one already!" Krory, already several paces ahead of all of them, was standing in front of a building with lights on. Lavi and Allen looked at each other once again dubiously.

"Wait! Krory! Don't go in there!" Allen, too late, outstretched his left arm to close around nothing. Krory was already in the inn. Desperate to get there before anything bad happened, Allen, Lavi, and Miranda raced after him.

"YOU!" The clerk was plastered against the wall behind his desk, terrified. Krory stood on the other side, standing there slack-jawed.

"B-but sir…!"

"G-get outta here! We got ridda you! B-BOSS!" The clerk yelled to a set of stairs behind him. "B-BOSS HE'S BACK! HE'S BACK!"

Tears filled Krory's eyes, threatening to spill over. "I just wanted to-"

"Whaddaya want," the grumbling voice of the boss could be heard coming down the stairs. "If this is another …" The wine that the man had been holding crashed to the ground as he saw the extremely tall Exorcist before them. "What the bloody hell…"

"Wait, it's not what you think!" The other three Exorcists burst through the door, falling behind Krory.

"You two! And you've brought a woman with you!" The innkeeper, hands quaking over the phone attempted to dial with shaky fingers.

"Trust me, we're on important business!" Allen tried, but the innkeeper wasn't listening.

"Give up, Allen, these people won't listen," Lavi said, almost panicking. "Remember what happened last time?" Last time, they had almost gotten burned at the stake. Allen _did_ remember, quite vividly.

"Yeah, but—" Suddenly, Allen's right eye transformed, emitting a high pitched noise. "Oh, crap! Akuma are here somewhere! A _lot_ of them!"

"What's—what's going on?" Krory, tears streaming down his face, had no idea how to handle the situation.

The innkeeper had successfully dialed the phone and was now yelling into it, "Mayor! Mayor! We need you! Yes! It's the _vampire_, mayor!"

Suddenly, ten level two akuma burst through the door and windows, completely destroying an entire side of the inn. "Hello, exorcissssts," one hissed with a creepy grin.

"M-mayor! They've brought something else! Y-yes, real _monsters,_ mayor! Please—!" The akuma ripped the phone out of wall, cutting off the man's sentence. It picked the innkeeper up by his collar, a wisp of its putrid breath hitting the innkeeper's face.

"Big hammer, little hammer, grow, grow, GROW!" The hammer enlarged, and Lavi smashed an akuma with it. "Boy, this would be easier outside," he commented as the roof got destroyed.

"There are more… a _lot_ more," Allen warned, destroying one with his clawed hand.

"What-what do I do?" Krory was cowering in the corner, fear locking his joints.

"Activate your Innocence!" Lavi was shouting to be heard over the screams of the terrified innkeeper and clerk.

"B-but I don't know how," Krory whimpered, shrinking away from one that was dangerously close.

"Listen," Allen called. "Do you feel your teeth itching?"

Krory paused, puzzled a bit. "As a matter of fact, I do…"

"Concentrate on that. Don't be afraid, Krory, just let go!"

Suddenly, Krory stood, his eyes turning black. His white streak shot upward, and he grinned maliciously. "Why, I feel a sudden urge to rip them all limb from limb!" And he leapt upward, on top of one of the akuma, sinking his teeth deep into its metallic flesh.

Miranda's eyes widened in horror, and she fell to her knees. She activated her Innocence, Time Recovery, so that any further injuries would at least be postponed to when they could get treated.

"I don't believe it," the innkeeper noticed the clock above them, and the crouching woman below, "she's a witch!" The akuma bit him, but thanks to her Innocence, it did nothing.

Krory jumped from akuma to akuma, each akuma exploding as he escaped just in time, leaping onto the next akuma. Allen had changed his arm to its machine-gun-like form so that he could more easily shoot the akuma, and Lavi was busily using his hammer to catch as many as possible.

Yet they just kept coming. There seemed to be no end to the akuma as more and more appeared, attacking the Exorcists with a passion.


	8. Chapter 8

Krory's dual-toned hair waved in the wind, his fangs bared sharply, sinking into another akuma. He straightened, leaping off of it just as it exploded.

"I think… that's almost all of them!" Allen's claw destroyed a spider-like one just as Lavi smashed one with his hammer.

"Good!" Krory landed on the ground gracefully, his cloak wrapped protectively around him. He grinned. "All of those creatures were beginning to anger me quite a bit." Right after he said this, he whipped around, sinking his teeth into another that was trying to sneak up on him. Wiping the blood from his mouth, he added after it exploded, "Even if their blood _does_ taste good." His hair fell back down over one eye, his expression changed from one of fierce determination to the more natural, calmer and meek Krory.

"M-Miranda?" He strode over to the woman, still kneeling on the ground. "Are you all right?"

She nodded, wiping tears from her eyes. His heart melted at the sight, and he hugged her close. "I'm sorry, Miranda. I didn't mean to scare you…"

She shook her head. "You didn't scare me."

"Oh, that's good," he grinned. "Um… what's wrong then?"

She shook her head. "N-n-nothing!" She looked away.

He frowned. Obviously, _something_ was wrong. Slumping, he noticed the innkeeper, cowering in the corner. "S-sir? I won't hurt you… please stop staring at me like that…"

The innkeeper shook his head, shivering obviously. "G-go away, monster!"

"M…monster?" Krory blinked. "I'm not a monster, silly man! I'm _Krory!_" The name seemed to make the man go into a fit of tremors. "Why, those akuma could have _killed_ you…! I just…? What?"

He had turned away, covering his ears with shaky hands. "Go away!"

He frowned noticeably. Why were people so afraid of him all the time? Besides everyone at the Order, nearly everyone that he'd met had flinched when he saw them, or cringed away from him. Even as he was walking down the street, people avoided his gaze and tried not to notice him. And now, even Miranda… He shook the thought from his head. Surely _she_ wasn't afraid of him, they were best friends!

"…Why? I didn't do anything to you…" Krory faltered. The man wasn't moving. He slumped. "Do you need any help, sir?"

"Go away!"

"B-but!"

"Come on, Krory." Allen put his hand on Krory's shoulder, and he led the taller man out of there. He stole a long, sad glance at Miranda on the way out.

Tears fell from Miranda's eyes as she saw the innkeeper, realized that the second she deactivated her Innocence, he would die—the akuma had bitten him. "I'm so sorry!" she burst out.

"For what?" he asked grumpily. "Y-you witch!"

"Wait!" She called at the door helplessly. "Help! Please! I need help, I'm so stupid…" The sentence had gone from a shout out the door to a mumble at the floor. "Please…"

Krory's sharp ear twitched at the sound of the shout. "Wh… She needs help!" He turned around.

"Kro-chan…" Lavi seemed uneasy.

"Let him go," Allen sighed to Lavi.

The tallest Exorcist rushed back through the door to the girl.

"What's the matter, what can I do?" He knelt in front of Miranda, whose eyes were shimmering with tears.

"Beats me," the innkeeper grimaced. Then, he realized who exactly he was talking to. "You!"

"Yes, me. Who else would I be?" _Silly man._ Concern etched his brow as he bit his lip, trying to find some way to help Miranda. The innkeeper ignored him. "Miranda, _please calm down._ What is the matter?"

"He-akuma! You… left… I…" She was hyperventilating. He grabbed her shoulders gently, his eyes wide. She took several deep breaths. "He got bitten by an akuma," she finally got out. "I-if I stop my Innocence, he'll _d-die_…"

"Die? What can I do?" Krory's gaze snapped to the sullen innkeeper who was glaring daggers at him, his index fingers shaped like a cross to ward off the 'vampire'.

"Y-you need to get r-rid of the p-poison. Only y-you can," she gulped. "You need t-to suck the virus from his bloodstream… before…"

"You mean… suck his blood?"

The innkeeper only heard these last three words, and his eyebrows went up in alarm. "What the _hell?_ No! Get away, vampire!"

"Now, now, man, please. I only want to help…" Krory advanced awkwardly, his cape billowing out behind him.

"Get away, I said!" He held out his crossed fingers. "I said!"

"I know, but I never did anything to you," Krory reasoned. "Now, lend me your neck please…" He bent down. "I just want to suck out this nasty virus you've gotten…"

"No! You're not going to get near me, _monster!_"

Krory gave a plaintive look at Miranda. "…What do I do."

Miranda was panicking. "I-I don't-!"

Suddenly, Krory's head snapped up as he had an idea. "Miranda," he said, "please deactivate your Innocence."

"Wh-what? No! He-he'll…!" She shook her head forcefully, a stream of tears threatening to fall. "I can't! Please…"

"Miranda, please," Krory begged. "I know what I'm doing." _I think._ He stared at her pleadingly

Her tear-filled eyes locked onto his, an unsaid question forming between them, his expression begging. _Do you trust me? _He gulped.

She slumped, deactivating her Innocence, shivers of fear beginning to wrack her body. Yes, he was an experienced Exorcist, and yes, he'd saved many people on the battlefield, but that had been _before_ the… accident. He was her best friend, and would be forever, but he was still so _new_ and _inexperienced._ Fear widened her eyes when Krory stood there, watching in morbid fascination as the stars began to cover the innkeeper's body.

_What are you doing? Help him!_ Every fiber of her being wanted to scream that at Krory pleadingly, but she didn't. Her hand went up to her mouth in a swift motion as the man began yelling, crying, pleading when the akuma virus began to spread.

Suddenly, Krory lurched forward, his teeth slicing easily through the soft skin of the man's neck. Miranda's shoulders slumped, and she sank to the ground, suddenly exhausted from terror, the natural crash that was brought on by a sudden rush of adrenaline. _It's over…_ Relief flooded over her when Krory straightened, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. The innkeeper's head hit the floor and he lay there, unconscious.

"I'm glad that's over," Krory admitted, his large shoulders sinking. "We'd best catch up with Allen and Lavi, right?"

"…I… suppose…" Shakily, they left to join the other two Exorcists.

"What's this?" The young nurse's assistant was sorting through the papers on the head nurse's desk, and although it wasn't _nearly_ the wreck that Komui's was, there were still some papers scattered about. She held the paper up to the light. "It says…" Her eyes widened. "Mr. Komui!" She raced out the door, and down the hall, clutching the paper tightly in white-knuckled fists. "Mr. Komui!"

She found the white-beret-wearing man sitting at his own highly cluttered desk, circles under his eyes and an untouched cup of coffee in front of him. "What is it?" he murmured in a three-quarters-asleep voice.

"Mr. Komui! I found this on the head nurse's desk!" She breathlessly handed him the paper. "Look!" He took it, adjusting his glasses so that he could see.

"Well, that's…" His eyes widened. "Somebody get Rouvelier on the phone! Krory is _not_ supposed to be out of that hospital bed!"


End file.
